This morning, there was enough sun and wind to finish drying most of the clothes I had washed yesterday, but a few are still hanging in the bathroom waiting for the moisture to evaporate. The sun did not burst through the clouds at all today, although there were short times of more light filtering through the gloom, which hovered above us in shades of ash, hazy white and smoky blue and gray. We set off around noon for another anchorage. The wind was very light, and we did our best to sail, content with 3 knots of speed for a while. We passed hundreds of lobster pot floats and a few lobstermen hauling in their catch.
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| One of the ubiquitous lobster boats |
Eventually we resorted to using the engine to reach our destination, a quiet anchorage north of Swan's Island between the smaller Asa and Orono Islands. We are the only boat here; it almost seems like wilderness.
We enjoyed the late afternoon playing card games in the pilot house and watching the wildlife around us. Of course, there are gulls and cormorants. As evening approached and the tide ebbed, gray seals hauled out on the rocks. We loved listening to the gruff pants and tail slapping of one as he dove for food as the other dried out. Off the conifer packed island on our port side, we used our binoculars frequently to spy on a pair of eagles protecting their extremely large nest. Their large and radient white heads and tails, contrasted with their dark bodies, brightened the bleak sky. On another island, Peter spotted a large white-tailed deer with an impressive rack slowly making its way along a granite ledge. We noticed that the feldspar speckled granite here has a pinkish hue, much more warm in appearance than the gray, buff and white granite elsewhere.
The overcast skies can be depressing, but they yield spectacular sunsets. In the west, the colors are vibrant, and to the east and north, we observed subtle pinks and blues as the light waned. The disappearing sun threw its last rays upon the spiky tree tops and bare granite of the islands east of us, making them faintly glow before darkness descended. Here are a few of the many photos of the stages of sunset.
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| Late in the sunset |
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| Pink skies to the northeast |
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| Mid-way through sunset |
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| Light glowing on the trees and pink granite of a small island |
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